Coherent Aggregator Operator Feedback for Sensor Fusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for tracking objects using sensors are prone to errors and require lengthy development cycles to integrate new sensor data, making them slow to adapt to changes and vulnerable to inaccuracies.
Innovation Solution
A system with a user interface and a coherent aggregator that allows operator input to correct fusion decisions, enabling the merging and interchanging of tracks, and receiving data from various sources such as IBS, AFATDS, airborne radar, and Blue Force Tracker systems, facilitating rapid adaptation to new sensors and reducing error vulnerability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a tracker system uses automated algorithms to fuse measurement reports into tracks, then tracking efficiency is improved, but fusion decision accuracy deteriorates due to errors in automated decisions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an operator as an intermediary between the automated tracker system and the final fusion decisions. The operator reviews track associations and can correct erroneous fusion decisions made by the automated algorithms, thereby maintaining high tracking efficiency while improving fusion decision accuracy through human oversight.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where operator corrections of fusion decisions are fed back into the tracker system. This allows the system to learn from and adjust to error patterns, continuously improving fusion decision accuracy while maintaining automated processing efficiency.
2Device complexity
If a tracker system is designed with fixed sensor integration, then system complexity is reduced, but adaptability to new sensors deteriorates requiring lengthy development cycles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal data interface architecture that can accept measurement reports from multiple diverse sensor types through a common protocol. This allows the tracker to process data from radar, video, electromagnetic radiation sources, and other sensors without requiring complex sensor-specific integration code, thereby maintaining low system complexity while achieving high adaptability to new sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic configuration capabilities that allow new sensor types to be integrated by updating configuration parameters and data formats rather than rewriting core tracking algorithms. This enables rapid adaptation to new sensors while maintaining the simplicity of the core system architecture.
3Speed
If automated algorithms make fusion decisions without operator input, then operational speed is improved, but error vulnerability increases
Solution Approach 1:
The operator serves as an intermediary review layer that可以快速 correct automated algorithm errors while maintaining high operational speed. The operator interface is designed to present only critical fusion decisions requiring human judgment, allowing rapid correction of errors without significantly slowing down the overall tracking process.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for tracking objects. Objects such as aircraft, ground vehicles, or vessels may be sensed with various sensors, including an Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS) (220), an Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS) (225), a network (230) of airborne radar sensors, a network (235) of aircraft each reporting its own position, a Blue Force Tracker (BFT) (240), and a network (245) of ground-based mobile radar sensors. Data from each sensor or network of sensors may also be fed, via a display interface layer (250), to a display. A tracker which may be referred to as a coherent aggregator (120) receives input from sensors or other trackers and also from an operator. The operator monitors the display and provides input to the coherent aggregator (120) to assist the coherent aggregator (120) in inferring tracks from measurement reports. Multiple coherent aggregators, in communication with each other and loosely coupled, may be operated simultaneously.